The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-03-23
REV. DR.. 1'ALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Four Full Regiments"

Subject: "Four Full Regiments"
TEXT: And four thousand praised the
Lord. II. Chronicles, xiii, S; This day shall
be unto you for nlemo7idl.-Exodus, xii, IA.
When week before last the communicate
membership of this church passed into the
four thousand, now reaching four thousand
\ and forty-fve the first part of my text came
to my mind, and bethought myself what a
grand thing it would be if the four thousand
of our communicate membership would, like
: the four thousand of the ancient Temple,
make it their lifetime business, to praise the
Lord Let them all take harp and timbrel
and anthem and doxologyl
| The aQusion OF my second text Is to the
Passover, which commemorated the deliver
ance Of the Children of Israel on the night
when the destroying angel sped through the
land Of Egypt, destroying the enemy but
saving the Sraelites, because on the door
posts of their dwellings was sprinkled the
blood of lamb. To-day we come to celebrate
a grander Passover, all peril going away from
our soul at the sight of the sprinkled blood of
the Lamb Of God on the door-posts Of our
hearts. Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for
mortal" ~ ~ " ~
The Sacramento Sabbath, whether it
comes In an American church or an English
chapel or Scotch kirk, is more impressive
than any other Sabbath Its light is holier,
calmer, sweeter; its voices more tender; its
touch is softer; its memories are more chaSt-
ened. The fruits of the Christian life sudden
| ly ripen, like orchards on the hill fronting the
| South. The wine of the Holy Sacrament
seems pressed from the grapes of Celestial
vineyards, and the bread broken seems to
| drop from the hand of Him who parted the
loaves for the five thousand. We walk to the
church of God with more thoughtful face and
with quieter step. The jubilant songs of 9th
er Sundays are struck through with
pensiveness and are all a tremble
] of the service, at the door we shake hands, it
/ is with more cordial grasp, because we feel
thrilling through our body, and mind, and
soul the great doctrines of Christian brother
hood; and our minds 60 back to our fore
fathers celebrating the Sacrament in times Of
persecution in Scotland among the Highlands;
commemorating the dying love of Christ,
pouring the wine into rough wooden cups,
dipping the waters of baptism from the
mountain rock, until one day they heard the
voices of their enemies coming up the hill,
and the pastor cried out: "Oh Lord,
the Shepherd have mercy on the sheepp
and instantly there was a roaring heard
as Of great floods and sure enough cloud
had burst and there were great torrents run
ming down the mountain side that whelmed
their foes with sudden wrath. What de-
liverance it was for them on that Sacramento
dry! Oh, that on this Sacramento day the
cloud Of Gods mercy might burst and our
sins be whelmed and our souls be savedl This
is the amethyst Of days. This is the pearl Of
days. This is the diamond Of days. This is
the day of days. Among the ten thousand
million ages of eternity the first Sabbath of
memorable, for "this day shall be unto you"
for ever and for ever "a memorial"
There is much in the scene Of to-day to i'm
press us because it is q time of reinforcement.
used to..remark that if ever lived to see
our membership four thousand I thought
would be willing to say with one Of old: SNOW,
Lord, ,lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation" But
I have changed my mind, and l never so
much wanted to stay as now, so as to see them
all enlisted for God and to watch their victo-
ries. What might they not accomplish in the
way of making the world better If they
we're all baptized with double por-
ton of the Holy Ghostl Four thousand
That is four full regiments. as military men
count q thousand to regiment think not
one hypocrite amongst them. Taken into
the church sometimes IN large numbers, but
each one as carefully examined as to change
of heart and evidence of regeneration as
though he or she were the only one present.
members have passed away into the skies,
and have Joined the church triumphant,
but we have four thousand and moro
left for the church militant. To
armsl Quit you like menl We want no
reserve corps among them. Go into action all
Of you. Some will be officers and command.
Some will make cavalry charge. Some will
be sharpshooters. Some will stand guard
Some will be on picket duty. Many Of you
no stragglers. none off on furlough, not one
deserter. With Christ for Commander-in-
chief, and the one-starred, blood-striped ban
ner Of manger and cross to lead the way, / give
the order that the General in the war gave
when, rising in his stirrups, his hair flying in
the wind, he cried out till all the host heard
him: "Forward the whole linep
There is also something in such scene to
deeply impress one, because it rehearses a
death scene. Now, you know, there is some
thing very touching in such an incident.
Though you ore in q hotel ard it is a stranger
that IS dying, how softly you move about the
place, and if you come up to his couch it Is
with uncovered head Even the voice of the
jester is stopped and when the eyes of that
stranger are closed it is with emotion. But
! am to tell you this morning of death such
When we die, we die for ourselves and the
crisis is alleviated by all benefcent ministries.
Bathings for the hands; bathings for the
head; bathings for the feet; the light turned
down low or set in Just the right place; al
the offices or affection about US when we
come to die But not so with Jesus. He
died net for Himself, but He died in
torment and He died for others. He might
have moved around in gardens made by His
own hand, an earthly potentate amid vine
yards and olive groves sloping to the sea- In
Stead Of being tossed in the fishing boat on
Tiberius, He might have chosen O sunshiny
day and pleasant wave for the lake crossing.
Instead of being followed by an unwaShed
| rabble He might have charmed sanhedrims
and universities with His eloquence. In.
stead Of cross and a bunch Of twisted
| brambles on His brow he might have died
| in the castle of a Roman merchant, the air
| bland with lilies and frankincense. But no;
! He died in torture; the good for the bad; the
! kind for the cruel; the wise for the ignorant
! the divine for the human. Oh how tenderly
, we feel toward any one who has done great
/ kindness and perhaps at the imperiling OF his
; own life. How we ought to feel toward
: Christ, the Captain of our salvation, on the
white horse riding down our foes; but in the
moment He made the victorious charge, the
! lances of death struck Him
| There was very touching scene among an
: Indian tribe in the last century, 1t seemed
! that one of the chicftains had slain man be-
; longing to an opposite tribe, and that tribe
, came up and said: 1--WE will exterminate you
!. unless you surrender the man who committed
that crim,." The chieftain who did the crime
stepped out from the ranks and said: ~ an
not afraid to die, but have wife and foul
children, and have a father aged and 6
mother aged, whom support by hunting
ind sorrow TO leave them helpless. Just as ht